The Castle Crime

Review: Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose are in London with Dink's father, who is attending a conference there, when they read that some of the Queen's jewels have been stolen. "What if we could solve the royal mystery?" asked Ruth Rose. And that's what the three friends proceed to do, in The Castle Crime, the sixth mystery in this Super Edition extension to the A to Z Mysteries by Ron Roy.

Queen Elizabeth had been driving from Buckingham Palace to Windsor Castle when she sees her grandsons outside the castle gates. She stops to see what they want when they reach into her vehicle, snatch a tiara and necklace, and then jump into a nearby car and race off. The Queen manages to see part of a bumper sticker on the car, but that's all she can remember. The thieves had been wearing masks of the princes, realistic enough to fool her. Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose decide to investigate the crime scene and head to Windsor Castle, where they meet with the Queen, who happens to be out walking her dogs. "I hope you get your jewels back," says Dink. "Yes," replies the Queen. "But for now, I'll have to get used to wearing my fake tiara and necklace. They are identical to the ones I lost. Of course, the ones on my wax figure [in Madame Tussauds] are also fakes." But she also inadvertently gives them a clue to who might have stolen the jewels, and where they might be found.

The Castle Crime is a clever mystery for kids to solve, and even references a short story by Edgar Allan Poe, which provides the solution to the crime. There are some fun facts about London and its tourist attractions — this is the first book in this series to be set outside of the US — which provide a colorful backdrop to the action. In short, a strongly plotted, very entertaining entry in this series.

This early chapter mystery is labeled RL: 2.5 by the publisher (2nd grade reading level). The Lexile measure for the book is 540L. A complete list of books in this series can be found at First Clues: A to Z Mysteries.

Acknowledgment: Random House provided a copy of The Castle Crime for this review.